Long Island lawyers agree to pay $510K for misusing $1.3M in charitable funds
Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement on Wednesday with Paul Marchese and Robin Maynard, two Long Island lawyers accused of illegally paying themselves over $1.3 million from a deceased client’s trust and charitable foundation.
Following the death of their client, Helen Gottlieb, Marchese and Maynard controlled funds that Gottlieb had designated for charity.
Marchese unilaterally paid his law firm nearly $600,000 in fees without reporting the financial transactions to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), as required by law. Additionally, he and Maynard improperly paid themselves salaries from the foundation totaling over $750,000.